Help:Style guide
Lifted shamelessly from Wikipedia:Style guide as a starting point; we should only include those areas in which we differ/specialize. Also take a look at Wikipedia:Guide_to_writing_better_articles and our project:chapter summaries. Basics Linking The first time an important Name, Item, Event, etc. is mentioned in an article, make a link by enclosing it with tags; thereafter do not link it again unless this helps provide context (such as if the last mention was a couple sections back). If the article you are linking to does not yet exist, it is still useful because the article may be created later, and in the meantime it will automatically be ranked higher on the to help judge demand. Avoid parenthesis Parenthesis are ugly and should be avoided in all situations. This is not to say that there is never any practical use for them, but before doing so please consider rewording/restructuring your content into something more legible and perhaps even pleasing to the eye. Article titles Article titles should be singular (Trolloc instead of Trollocs; you can place the plural 's' after the link if grammar requires it. Exceptions to this are when the noun is only found (or almost always found) in a plural form (Borderlands, Two Rivers). Page title formatting When a new page is created, the wiki software creates the page with the first letter capitalized and in the regular font. For most articles, this is fine. However, some articles need to have the display title changed. For character families (i.e. al'Thor, al'Vere, etc.) and other pages where the first letter needs to be a lowercase, put the template at the bottom of the page. For articles where the name is italicized, place the following magic word code at the bottom of the page: . This can also be used in cases where only a part of the title is italicized, e.g. . Please note that, aside from the formatting code, nothing else in the article title can be changed, to include spelling, capitalization, spaces, punctuation, etc. For example, placing on Rand's page will cause the software to ignore the magic word. Definite/indefinite articles When a proper noun is always referred to with its definite article (the bleakness, The Wheel of Time series), include it in the article title. Otherwise, omit it or create a redirect to the simplified version. Capital letters If the title of an article is not a proper noun, do not capitalize when linking to it, e.g. grolm. Entries from the Old Tongue Article titles should only be in the Old Tongue if that is the most common way to refer to the subject at hand: ashandarei instead of black-bladed spear. Otherwise, create a soft redirect at the Old Tongue definition page (such as gaidin, which should link to Warder). People Articles on people should be located at the expected full name (first and last name if given for modern people; three names if earned from the Age of Legends). Exceptions include the Forsaken and Ogier). Create redirects from given names and partial names. Titles and Honorifics Within reason, titled and honorifics should be included in redirects, to facilitate ease of writing articles. So Queen Morgase should redirect to Morgase Trakand, and Alanna Sedai should redirect to Alanna Mosvani. Format for Character Entries As an attempt to standardize the format of all character entries and to tidy up/sort some of the longer articles, the following format is being used. Open with a one-line summary on that character. This shouldn't often exceed one sentence. AHA! For the main entry - Remember AHA! A'''ppearance - This covers everything about their physical appearance. ''H'istory - Everything that exists independent of the events of the series. i.e. their origins, personal qualities, hobbies and pre-existing relationships to other characters. Where possible, these should be ordered chronologically. Start with basic facts and move on to lesser-known details. NOTE: The events of New Spring are included in HISTORY rather than in ACTIVITIES because they are pre-existing at the beginning of the chain of events in the series. A'''ctivities - Everything related to events that happen during the course of the series. Each incident should be added in a new line so as to identify that they take part at different stages throughout the books. Where possible, these should be ordered chronologically. Where there are a lot of entries on activities, subsections should be created to separate the the activities into major areas. '''! stands for anything else that either doesn't fit into the above (such as subsections detailing on the main theories in a major debate concerning that character or for additional items that may be better separated from other sections, like Min's Viewings (see Sheriam Bayanar for an example). Check out the page on Alviarin Freidhen to see all these elements in use. Use of Character Templates Please use the Template:Character for every character entry and attempt to fill in as many entries for each character as possible. Standard icons The following image files are being used in the image section of the character template throughout the given group. *ALL NON-BLACK, NON-AGE OF LEGENDS AES SEDAI: image:Flame-icon.svg *AES SEDAI FROM THE AGE OF LEGENDS: image:Aessedai-icon.svg *TOWER AFFILIATES/NOVICES/ACCEPTED/KIN: image:Flame-icon.svg *WARDERS: image:Flame-icon.svg *BLACK AJAH: image:Faces-icon.svg *WHITECLOAKS: image:Cotl-icon.svg *ANDOR/TWO RIVERS: image:Andoran-icon.svg *CAIRHIENIN: image:Cairhien-icon.svg *ASHA'MAN: image:Fang-icon.svg *SEA FOLK/Atha'an Miere: image:Gulls-icon.svg *TAIREN: image:Tairen-icon.svg *AIEL: image:Aiel-icon.svg *SEANCHAN (except damane and sul'dam): image:Seanchan-icon.svg *DAMANE/SUL'DAM: image:A'dam-icon.svg *FORSAKEN: image:Snake-icon.svg *WOLVES/WOLFBROTHERS: image:Wolf-icon.svg *DOMANI: image:Ornaments-icon.svg *ALTARANS: image:Malden-icon.svg *OGIER: image:Leaf-icon.svg *TUATHA'AN: image:Leaves-icon.svg *MALKIERI: image:Lans helmet-icon.svg *BLADEMASTER: image:Hilt-icon.svg Calendar and dates When writing a date, link to its calendar page with the era's template. For instance Template:ne can be used as follows with the date page links: Regions The area in which most of the books take place is the Westlands; the fan-name for the entire world is Randland; don't confuse them! As with entries in the Old Tongue, create redirects from less common names to more common ones (i.e. Three-Fold Land and Djevik K'Shar should redirect to Aiel Waste. Italics Book titles Book titles should always be italicized. If you are referring to a book by its number in the sequence (Book 12, or "the prequel novel"), do not use italics. Chapters To make reference to a chapter summary, see help:book templates. To write out a chapter's title, use quotations and italics: "Summoned in Haste" Old Tongue When creating an article for a word in the Old Tongue (or defining it inline, such as the ashandarei article), utilize the template to provide a consistent definition style. Old Tongue words should always be italicized. Quotations Comprehensive lists of quotations belong on Wikiquote:The Wheel of Time. But you are encouraged to freely insert relevant ones into articles using the tag, for example: Relevancy can range from simple comic relief to somber pronouncements on issues of grave importance to the series. For example, a prophecy: : Pronunciation Sections H1 style (=Section name=) headers should not be used within articles unless the sections are basically mini-articles grouped onto a single article page. Examples of this include most of the links at the bottom of wikipedia's wotnav. Sections headers are not titles, and should be capitalized like normal sentences. Avoid using the article title in section names as this is usually redundant. 1 Note: The standard name External links is preferred even when there is only one external link. It is not meant to quantify whether there is more than one link in the section, but rather to serve as a separator indicating that loose external links should be collected below that line, regardless of however many there happen to be. Notes Entries in the Notes section should be Footnotes, created using the template for regular footnotes, the templage for book sources, and the template for Source footnotes within the body of the article. To produce the list of footnotes, place the template at the bottom of the page. Talk pages ''See ''